Hack Facebook, Spot Bugs and Get Paid

Facebook is willing to pay anyone who successfully hacks into its site and locates bugs.

Facebook previously said it has paid out more than $40,000 under its new bug bounty, which invites professional security researchers and hackers to send it the details of any Facebook vulnerabilities that they uncover.

We've already paid a $5,000 bounty for one really good report, Facebook Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan wrote in a blog post. One person has already received more than $7,000 for six different issues flagged.

Researchers from more than 16 countries have successfully submitted bounty bugs, Facebook said. Its public thank you list names dozens of contributors.

We hire the best and brightest, and have implemented numerous protocols, Sullivan wrote. We realize, though, that there are many talented and well-intentioned security experts around the world who don't work for Facebook.

Although Facebook has its own security team, the company launched its bug bounty program to make use of the collective wisdom of the site's more than 700 million users.

Such hackers are known as “white-hat hackers,” according to a CNNMoney report.